Fake Email
Here is information on how to identify fake email (Spoofed).
Your may receive an email with the reply-to line looking something like “some@bank.com” or other service you may have. Be aware that many times an can be forged and although it may look like your bank, it’s actually a hacker trying to get your personal information.
Your should never respond to requests for personal information that may be contained in a fake email. In order to stop spoofing, you should find the real website address of the email in question and send them a copy of the email that your received with the complete header information.
To find the header information, configure your e-mail program to show All Headers (this varies from program to program). The headers we need are well labeled and look something like this:
X-Sender: someone@domain.com
X-Sender-IP: [10.3.6.17]
X-Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2008 18:04:02 +0000 (UTC)
X-Recipient: you@domain.com
X-OUID: 1
Also, when forwarding your message, include the embedded URL if one exists in the message. To provide this information, right-click the URL and choose “Copy Shortcut.” Then paste the URL into the top of your message before you send it.
Many spammers and spoofers use programs that randomly generate fake email addresses, in the hope that some percentage of these randomly-generated addresses will actually exist.
Important Note: If you submitted your credit card number to the faked Web site, you should take steps to protect your information by notifying your credit card company.
If you receive any other spoof messages in the future, please forward the messages to the related company.
1. Most companies will *not* ask you for the following information in an e-mail message:
* Your password
* Your bank account information
* Your credit card information or PIN
* Your social security number
* Your mother’s maiden name or other information to identify you
2. Be on the lookout for poor grammar or typographical errors. Many phishing e-mails are translated from other languages or are sent without being proof-read. As a result, these messages can contain bad grammar or typographical errors.
3. Check the return address–genuine e-mails come from an e-mail address ending in “@[real website.com]”
4. Check the Web site address–genuine Web sites always end with “.[real website]“–that is, “www.[real website].com.” Most companies *never* use a combination such as “security-[real site.com]” or “[real site].com.biz.”
5. If you think your message is from a fake email, go directly to the real Web site. Some phishing e-mails include a link that looks as though it will take you to your account, but it is really a shortened link to a completely different Web site. If you hover your mouse over the link in your e-mail program, you often can see the underlying, false Web address, either as a pop-up or as information in the browser status bar.
6. Do not “unsubscribe”–many spammers use these “unsubscribe” processes to create a list of valid, working e-mail addresses.
I recently received an email stating I had won on 11/28/2008 the following:
800,000 US dollars and needed to send $220.00 for FED-X as the courior selected to the payment issued by the BANK OF AMERICA.
Another was received 11/17/2008 stating I had won a second prize award of
2,800,000 and this one was sponsored by YAHOO, DELL COMPUTERS, and SONY. I have not replied to either.
Date: Friday, December 19, 2008 4:12 PM
From: FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
To: Undisclosed recipients: ;
Subject: F.B.I INVESTIGATION.
——————————————————————————–
ANTI-TERRORIST AND MONETARY CRIMES DIVISION
FBI HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535-0001
TEL/FAX 202 652 2396
Website: fbi.gov
ATTN: BENEFICIARY.
This is to Officially inform you that it has come to our notice and we have thoroughly completed an Investigated with the help of our Intelligence Monitoring Network System that you are having an illegal transaction with Impostors claiming to be Prof. Charles C. Soludo of the Central Bank Of Nigeria, Mr. Patrick Aziza, none officials of Oceanic Bank, none officials of Zenith Bank and some impostors claiming to be the Federal Bureau Of Investigation agents and EFCC and ICPC. During our Investigation, it came to our notice that the reason why you have not received your payment is because you have not fulfilled your Financial Obligation given to you in respect of your Contract/Inheritance Payment.
So therefore, we have contacted the Federal Ministry Of Finance on your behalf and they have brought a solution to your problem by coordinating your payment in the total amount of $800,000.00 USD which will be deposited into an ATM CARD which you will use to withdraw funds anywhe Since the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been involved in this transaction, you are now to be rest assured that this transaction is legitimate and completely risk-free as it is our duty to Protect and Serve citizens of the United States Of America.
We also notice that some imposter has been claiming to be one of our offices; I want you to stop anything you have with any of them and proceed with Mr. Paul Smith, is the only person in change of this matter.
All you have to do is immediately contact the ATM CARD CENTER via E-mail for instructions on how to procure your Approval Slip which contains details on how to receive and activate your ATM CARD for immediate use to withdraw funds being paid to you. We have confirmed that the amount required to procure the Approval Slip will cost you a total of $496 USD which will be paid directly to the ATM CARD CENTER agent via Western Union Money Transfer / MoneyGram Money Transfer. Below, you shall find contact details of the Agent whom will process your transaction from Federal Minister of Finance: We have agreement with the federal government of Nigeria that you must pay for the approval slip for them to confirm that you are the real possessor of this card.
CONTACT INFORMATION FEDERAL MINISTER OF FINANCE.
ATM CARD CENTRE
NAME: MR. PAUL SMITH
CELL PHONE: +234-70 8515 0758
EMAIL: mr.paulsmith.fmf-atmcardcentre@hotmail.com
Immediately contact Mr. Paul Smith of the ATM Card Centre with the following information:
Full Name: Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Direct Phone Number:
Current Occupation:
Contact code 555, use this code and contact Mr. Paul Smith because of the impostors in Nigeria. Once you have sent the required information to Mr. Paul Smith he will contact you with instructions on how to make the payment of $496 USD for the Approval Slip after which he will proceed towards delivery of the ATM CARD without any further delay.
You have hereby been authorized/guaranteed by the Federal Bureau Of Investigation to commence towards completing this transaction, as there shall be NO delay once payment for the Approval Slip has been made to the authorized agent.
Once you have completed payment of $496 to the agent in charge of this transaction, immediately contact us back for more investigation for conformation of your ATM card. The both offices are working 24hours to get this project complete.
Federal Bureau Investigation
Robert S. Mueller III
Director, FBI
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This is was a (e-mail) that was sent to me. Thought it would interest you.
Have a good day,
Melissa